Sacrifice
by AngelGemma
Summary: So... This is a, what do you call it, prequel to The Hunter and The Demon. It tells how Jo is alive and so forth. You could read this as a one-shot I guess but I advice that you read The Hunter and The Demon after :) So please enjoy and review! I love reviews.


**Okay, so for people reading The Hunter And The Demon, here it is! How Jo is alive! Also, at first it follows the script then it changes so bear with me here people =) Hope you enjoy anyway and ignore the feels.**

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"There you are!" A different voice called out and the four spun around. A woman with wavy brown locks was standing there with her hands in the pockets of her jeans. The corner of her lips was upturned in a smile as her tresses blew around her delicate face.

"Meg!" Sam called abruptly, naming the woman that stood so casually before them. The smile grew as her left leg went out at an angle from her hip, rocking on the booted heel.

"Shouldn't have come here, boys," Meg called out as if admonishing them for their foolish choices. Dean seemed immune to her statement as he called back, "Hell, I could say the same for you." The cold was in his hand and aimed straight for the woman.

Behind him Jo, Ellen and Sam all held their shotguns loosely but at the ready. Meg seemed to smirk as she spoke her next damning words in a taunting voice, "Didn't come here alone, Deano." Some invisible beast growled to her left and a puddle of dirty water splashed as it was stepped in. Dean looked at the water before glancing over at Sam who in turn looked at Ellen, receiving her own look in return.

Dean raised an eyebrow and turned back to Meg, "Hellhounds." He spoke matter-of-factly and no-one hear the slight tremor to his voice bar the young blonde behind him.

Meg grinned, rocking her left hell, "Yeah Dean; your favourite!" She kept that tinny smirk before continuing on, "Come on boys, my father wants to see you." There was a fainting warning echo in her voice and Sam spoke up, his hair blown across his eyes, "I think we'll pass, thanks."

Meg shrugged dispassionately as if unconcerned, "Your call." She grinned again, her mouth open slightly and upturned at the corner. "You can make this easy or you can make it really, really hard." She left that option hanging and Dean looked back at Ellen as if seeking her guidance. She nodded slightly and Dean caught Jo's gaze fiercely then turned back to Meg.

"When have you ever known us to make anything easy?" Dean challenged and as Meg shook her head faintly, the hunter fired. The bullet spun and struck the hellhound at Meg's side, drawing a high-pitched yelp from the beast.

The four hunters turned and above the sudden noise came Sam's loud command, "Run!" Meg began to laugh in a soft lilting tone as her prey tried to escape. A hellhound, further in the lead than its brethren, leapt through the air and slammed upon Dean's back, taking him down.

Joanna looked back in her escape when she heard Dean's faint grunt. "_Dean_!" Her shout was loud and broke through the cacophony of sound. The one who's named she had called, looked up and managed to yell at her, "Jo, stay back!" His voice was filled with a warning that Jo merely ignored as she cocked her shotgun, holding it at her hip, and fired. The shot struck true and hit the hellhound, knocking it back from its quarry. Quickly, as she moved closer to Dean, Jo loaded the gun again and fired. She went about this manner two more times, each bullet finding its target.

The hellhound slammed back against a trashcan, yelping in pain. Before the blonde could fire again she heard rapid paw-prints and sinister breathing to her left and turned too late

The new hellhound raked its filthy claws down Joanna's left side, ripping and tearing the weak flesh

As the girl screamed in absolute pain and terror, her mother turned, shotgun in both hands, and screamed, "_NO!" _

Sam turned also and levelled his shotgun, blasting back the offending hellhound. Rolling to his feet, Dean quickly collected Jo from the ground and into his arms, pressing her protectively into chest. He backed away with Sam and Ellen covering his escape by shooting at the beasts from Hell.

The made it to a hardware store and burst through the door. Dean, moving quickly but gently, placed Jo down against the counter while his brother grabbed a length of chain, securing it around the handles of the front door. Ellen ran over with a large bag of salt and drew the contents in a line across the entrance. Front door secured, the pair rushed to make safe the rest of the building.

Dean was crouching next to Jo, his hand pressed firmly to the wound in her side, a poor attempt to stem the flow of blood. Sam hurried past and Dean glanced up, catching his little brother's gaze. They shared a look of pain and horror before the younger took off after Ellen.

* * *

Dean turned to Sam, "So now we know where the Devil's gonna be, we know when and we have the colt." His little brother raised an eyebrow and gestured around dramatically, "Yeah. We just have to get past eight or so hellhounds and get to the farm by midnight.

Glancing down at Jo and Ellen, Dean spoke, "And that's after we get Jo and Ellen the hell outta town." He looked back at Sam. "Won't be easy," The younger Winchester whispered, speaking both of their fears aloud.

"Stretcher?" Dean suggested, glancing around the appliance store. Sam followed his gaze, "I'll see what we got."

"Stop," A voice halted their progress and they looked down to see Jo staring up at them. "Guys, stop. Can we uh, be realistic about this please?" She turned her begging eyes to Dean and went on, "I can't move my legs. I can't be moved. My guts are bein' held in by an Ace bandage. We gotta…" She bit her longer lip, ignoring the tears in her brown eyes, "We gotta get out priorities straight here. Number one; I'm not going anywhere."

Ellen looked at her daughter sharply, "Joanna Beth, you stop talkin' like that." Rolling her head slightly to find her mother, Jo whispered, "Mom. I can't fight. I can't walk. But I could do something. We've got propane, wiring, rock salt, iron nails. Everything we need."

Sam tilted his head slightly in confusion, "Everything we need?" Jo steeled her resolve and spoke tersely, "To build a bomb, Sam."

Dean's posture stiffened and his voice was just a whisper, "No. Jo, no."

Joanna half-smiled, as if in defeat, when she looked up at him, "You got another plan? You got _any _plan? Those are hellhounds out there, Dean. They've got all our scents." Her voice spoke her resignation and she couldn't stop the tears that trekked her cheeks. "Those bitches with _never _stop coming after you." Jo looked away and broke Dean's eye contact, focusing instead on Sam.

"We let the dogs in, make a break for the building next over and I can wait here with my finger on the button. Rips those mutts a new one," She seemed to smile but it caused her pain instead. "Or at least get you a few minutes head start anyway." This time she let out a fluttery laugh, ignoring the pain it wrecked upon her body.

"No. I-I won't let you!" Ellen cried, shaking her head resolutely and feeling the salt water brushing her eyes. Jo turned to her mother with a determined expression, "This is why we're here, right?" Her words were a challenge. "If I could get us a shot on the Devil…" She turned to Dean in her plea, "Dean we have to take it."

Ellen seemed torn beyond words, "No! That's not-"

With a brave smile, Jo cut her off, "Mom. This might literally be your last chance to treat me like an adult. You might want to take it." The tears were falling in rivers but she kept up the bravado, ignoring the pain. Her body wracked with sobs, Ellen turned to the brothers, "Well you heard her. Get to work."

With a quick glance at their fallen comrade, Sam and Dean prepared the bomb. Ellen, crouching next to Jo, pressed a quick kiss to her daughter's forehead, breathing raggedly. She pushed away and hesitantly walked to Sam and Dean, checking she was out of hearing range from Jo.

"Boys," She got their attention and they turned, matching looks of sorrow in their green eyes. She nodded slowly as if gathering her thoughts. "Yeah?" Sam asked gently as Dean turned back to the shelf to gather supplies, as if not wanting any part of the conversation.

"You'll take care of her, right?" Ellen asked with a fierce determination and Sam shared a look with Dean. "Ellen. You know Jo's not going to make it." He tried to lower the older hunter down gently but she refused to be swayed. "Answer the question, Sam."

With a sigh, "We'll do whatever we can." He assured her and Ellen once again nodded. "Good." She turned to Dean slightly, obviously wanting him in on the discussion. "So when that bomb is made, you two take her the hell away from here and you promise me," Ellen's eyes turned steely despite the tears, "_You promise me_ that's you'll keep my baby girl safe."

Sam nodded slowly, eyes filled with grief for the woman. Dean glanced over his shoulder at the two then towards Jo and it seemed to be a long while but he finally whispered, "Yeah. We promise."

"Good." Ellen breathed out and sluggishly walked back to her daughter. Sam glanced at Dean before they doubled their pace and in no time the bomb was made.

Buckets littered the floor and Jo held the trigger in her loose hand. Ellen had carefully changed the girl's bandages and cleaned her wound, taking the time to be in her company. When Sam declared the bomb to be done, Ellen looked at Dean and nodded slightly. He skimmed past her and crouched beside Jo, brushing the hair from her brown eyes.

"Dean…" Joanna whispered though it sounded more like a whimper. Smiling lightly, Dean pressed a chaste kiss to her forehead just like her mother had then, with no effort; he lifted her into his arms. Jo cried out in pain and without meaning to, she dropped the trigger. Dean held her to his chest and stepped back as Ellen watched.

"What.. ?" Jo murmured as pain swamped her body. Sam shouldered his and Jo's shotguns, moving swiftly to the back of the store. Dean turned to Ellen, disregarding the panic that emanated from Jo. She didn't understand yet that this was for her own good.

"Take care of her, Dean. Don't let her get into trouble," Ellen warned, running her hand through Jo's dirty blonde hair. "Mom," Jo whimpered, tears leaving runs down her face. "Get goin' now," She whispered, making her way to the front of the store. "Ellen…" Dean gritted his teeth, holding Jo closer.

Ellen turned back as she reached the front door. "I said go. And Dean?" She held his gaze with a kind of proud air, "Kick it in the ass. Don't miss."

With a nod, Dean followed after Sam, exiting the building via the roof. Ellen smiled grimly as she unwound the chain and brushed away the salt line. With carefully measured steps, she began to prep the bomb before taking her place where Jo had lain. Taking the trigger into her numb hand, Ellen watched as the front door burst open with force.

Something horrid breathed on her face and with a small gasp, she put on a brave face, just like her daughter had. "You can go straight back to hell, you ugly bitch!" And her thumb pressed the trigger.

With an Earth-shattering roar, the hardware store went up in flames and tore through the night sky.

Sam and Dean stopped their escape to look back, the latter rubbing his thumb in comforting circles on Jo's arm. The trio stayed there for a moment, watching the fire split the air before they turned and left.

* * *

Dean gently laid Joanna just out of sight of the Devil, watching his little brother confront the Arc Angel. Creeping slowly, he made his way to beside Lucifer, said his words and shot him straight between the eyes.

* * *

Someone appeared next to the trio and with a finger to his lips in warning, Castiel teleported them away. Lucifer glanced over before turning his attentions back to Death.

* * *

Dean pulled away from Castiel, shaking with rage. He looked back as the Angel calmly healed Jo and she fell into a peaceful slumber. How could Dean tell her? How could he tell her that Ellen had died for nothing?

* * *

Her ears were numb as Dean told her. Told her that the Devil was still alive. Tears unwillingly burst from her eyes and she brushed them away angrily. Without a word to anyone, Jo turned and ran from the building. Dean was quick after her but Jo kept running, hijacking a car before he could catch her. She tore away and never saw the two brothers or their guardian Angel again. At least not until _that _night.

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**So did you like it****? I didn't have the episode to watch it so that's why the last parts are so vague and broken up... But did you like it? I hope you did. Please review =) **


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